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Terms of Endearment

Showered with Oscars (it won five and was nominated for a further seven), this is American mainstream movie-making at its best. Director James L Brooks (Broadcast News) largely succeeds in keeping sentiment the right side of mawkish in this story (based on The Last Picture Show writer Larry McMurtry's novel) of the often strained mother-daughter relationship between Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger. Jack Nicholson delivers one of his effortless scene-stealing supporting roles, and other familiar faces include Danny DeVito, Jeff Daniels and John Lithgow.

Plot Summary

Oscar-winning melodrama starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger and Jack Nicholson. Aurora Greenway is an attractive widow whose main problems in life are fending off an alarming number of suitors and keeping her headstrong daughter Emma in check. But as the years pass by, Aurora's attitude to life and love, and her relationship with her daughter, begin to change.